Candābha

1. Candābha Thera.-An arahant. He belonged to a wealthy brahmin family of Rājagaha and was called Candābha because from the circle of his navel proceeded a light resembling that of the moon's disk. When he grew up, the brahmins seated him in a carriage and took him about, proclaiming that whoever stroked his body would receive power and glory. By this means they earned much money. One day, in Sāvatthi, a dispute arose between the brahmins and the Buddha's followers as to Candābha's supernatural powers, and finally they took him to the Buddha for him to settle the quarrel. As Candābha approached the Buddha, the light from his body disappeared and Candābha, thinking that this was owing to some charm, asked to be taught the same. The Buddha stipulated that he should join the Order. Having done so, Candābha was asked to meditate on the thirty-two constituent parts of the Body. Soon afterwards he became an arahant.

In a previous birth he was a forester and formed a friendship with a merchant to whom he supplied red sandalwood. One day, when he visited the merchant in the town, he was taken by him to the place where a shrine was being erected over the remains of Kassapa Buddha. The forester, making a moon-disk from sandalwood, placed it within the shrine. After death, for a whole Buddha-interval, he was in Tāvatimsa and was known as the deva Candābha. DhA.iv.187ff; the SNA. version (ii.523ff) differs from this in several details.

2. Candābha. Sixteen thousand kappas ago there were four kings of this name, all previous births of Ekadīpiya (Ap.i.189).

Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, G P Malalasekera (1899-1973), which is available as printed version from